Dear DCES Families,

It's hard to believe we are already in November. We are enjoying the change in cooler temperatures, which was perfect for our Fall Carnival last Friday. It was lovely seeing all of our families and cubbies having a good time together. We want to give a huge shout-out to our PTO and Mrs. Dupey and Mrs. Engler for planning such an incredible and successful Carnival!

On behalf of our DCES staff, we want to thank all of our parents for your support and dedication to DCES. These events wouldn't be possible without you. We had another fabulous Book Fair, thanks to Mrs. Niesz, along with our parent volunteers. Thank you to Mrs. Graving for coordinating our first PTO Butter Braids fundraiser. DCES is blessed with the most amazing families, and we have much more to look forward to this year. Our PTO and 25-year Committee have been working hard to plan our upcoming 25-year celebration. Please save the date for our 25th Anniversary Celebration and Movie Night, Friday, December 1, at 5 p.m. on the DCES baseball fields. The night will include art and STEM activities, DCMS band, and the movie Bugs Life. Food trucks will be at this free event with food for purchase. More information to come from our PTO 25th Anniversary Committee.

At DCES, we strive to create a learning climate that encourages student achievement and fosters a positive learning community. Last week, school letter grades were published, and we would like to share some changes to DCES' letter grade. The Arizona Department of Education rates all K-8 schools using the four indicators in the graph below.

• 3rd-5th Grade State Assessment Scores with Growth that contribute to 50% of the school letter grade

• 3rd-5th Grade State Assessment Scores with a Proficiency level that contributes to 30% of the school letter grade

• Accelerated Readiness contributes to 10% of the school's letter grade

• EL Proficiency Growth that contributes to 10 % of the school's letter grade

When analyzing DCES indicator scores, we earned 81.58 points, which was 2.42 points short of being an A-rated school. Currently, DCES has a B letter grade rating according to the points allocated for each indicator. The 10% from Accelerated Readiness is where we have identified our difference from the previous year when we earned an A rating. Attendance, which is a part of Accelerated Readiness, was one of the critical factors in our school going from an A to a B. 

Moving forward, student achievement will continue to be our focus. We will continue to attain quality instruction for all students by having our teachers work in professional learning communities (PLCs), using a continuous improvement cycle. Our teachers meet bi-weekly for PLCs, with one focus on Multi-Tiered Systems of Support for Academics (MTSS-A) and MTSS-B for student behavior support. We will continue to strive for excellence and provide effective instruction to ensure all students reach their academic goals.  

In addition, DCES is committed to starting an Attendance Committee with our PBIS Committee to improve our chronic absenteeism. As you may know, SUSD is launching its Attendance Matters Initiative, a campaign to reduce chronic absenteeism and increase student engagement. Chronic absenteeism is defined as missing 10% or more of the school year, which is about 19 days or more of excused and unexcused absences.  

We will host Coffee with the Principal on Wednesday, November 15, at 8:30 a.m. in our DCES library. This will be an excellent opportunity to learn further details about our letter grade and to share any questions or concerns.

As you may already know, our school has been selected as one of the schools to move forward with a site visit from the Arizona Educational Foundation. After the school visits, judges will determine which schools have achieved an A + School of Excellence Award. Selected schools receive the A + School of Excellence recognition for four years. DCES is looking forward to our A + School of Excellence school visit on January 23rd & 24th. With a close partnership with parents, teachers, and students, I am confident we will have a very successful school year!

Important November Dates

November 7: Kindergarten Roundup 8:00 a.m.

November 8: Early Release 1:15 p.m. dismissal

November 9: Veterans Day Program 9:15 a.m.

November 10: No School

November 14: Picture Re-takes/Makeups

November 17: Turkey Trot

November 22-24: Thanksgiving Recess

November 27-December 1 PTO Holiday Shop

• Starting in preschool and kindergarten, too many absences can cause children to fall behind in school.
• Missing 10%, or about 2 days each month over the course of a school year, can make it harder to learn to read.
• Students can still fall behind if they miss just 1 or 2 days every few weeks.
• Being late to school may lead to poor attendance.
• Absences and tardiness can affect the whole classroom if the teacher has to slow down learning to help children catch up.